Everyone desires a positive response to their request or proposition.  That is normal and such a reply may result in long-term benefits for many.  While a negative response can elicit feelings of discouragement and apparent failure, it can motivate a change of course and adjustments that eventually lead to success.  The invention of the light bulb is a classic example of multiple failures that finally brought success. 

The Book of Acts introduces Saul of Tarsus, later to be known as Paul.  “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.  I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished” (Acts 22:3-5 NIV). 

When on his way to Damascus to arrest Christians, he had an encounter with Jesus Christ.  The entire direction of his life changed as he placed his faith in the Savior, Israel’s Messiah.  However, in his sin nature there still resided that tendency to be proud.  That would be a formidable hindrance in God’s service.  As Saul, he had been promoted above his peers, but God needed a humble servant whom He could promote.  Therefore, “to keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me” (2 Cor 12:7-9 NIV).  Three times God said “no.”  

The Apostle Paul could no longer depend on his past successes to fulfill God’s plan for his life.  He would come to understand that God’s prerequisite for service is humility.  Peter expressed this truth … “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7 NIV). 

How could a person who had achieved so much in Judaism, now become the greatest apostle in the Church Age?  Only God could bring that about.  Paul accepted by faith God’s reply to his prayer … “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor 12:9a NIV).  Thus, the apostle would write to the churches in Corinth … “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:9b-10 NIV).

But what about the times that God responds to our prayers by saying wait?  That is often the greatest challenge.  The psalmist gives us a glimpse into the struggles of his life. Surely David desired immediate relief from his enemies even within his household, but instead, with Divine wisdom, he prayed … “Teach me your way, O LORD; lead me in a straight path because of my oppressors. Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes, for false witnesses rise up against me, breathing out violence. I am still confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD” (Ps 27:11-14 NIV).  Confident in God’s faithfulness to accomplish His will, David wrote … “Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes” (Ps 37:7 NIV).  With inner peace and assurance he said … “I wait for the LORD; my soul waits and in his word I put my hope [confidence]” (Ps 130:5 NIV).   

Harry Martinez, a resident of Albany, is a retired minister who served a nondenominational congregation in Florida. His weekly column appears in several South Georgia newspapers.